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VIRTUAL TRAINING
a pilot can gain certification entirely
on work done in a simulator—making
a virtual person, or surrogate, poses a
new challenge.
Even realistic-looking surrogates
lack the cognitive functions of hu-
mans. As a result, participants don’t
treat them as human, “but as tasks or
games that must be mastered via a for-
mulaic interaction,” the authors write.
One possible solution being worked
on at the University of Southern Cali-
fornia, with support from the Office
of Naval Research and the Army, is
using human surrogates, or avatars,
performing their roles remotely. That
approach presents its own challenges,
but it offers an idea of what could come
next in virtual training.
Meanwhile, the Defense Department
is working on a broad plan for live and
synthetic training across DOD, involv-
ing academia and industry along with
the services, Frank DiGiovanni, acting
deputy assistant secretary of Defense
for Readiness, said at the Orlando
conference.
Part of that plan could include mak-
ing virtual training mandatory. Right
now, unit commanders make the call
on how much virtual training is used,
but Shrader suggested that a certain
amount be made mandatory.
Army Col. David Cannon, capability
manager for U.S. Army Training and
Doctrine Command, agreed with its
benefits. “We need to get our soldiers
prepared to operate and thrive in chaos
and ambiguity,” he said. “With [virtual
training] we have the ability to train in
an environment that’s immersive. We
have to understand that the world has
changed and we have to train for those
changes.”
Flanagan agreed, saying “We must
make the integration of simulations a
mandatory leader task.”
SMALL ADVANTAGES, TOO
And while large-scale LVC exercises
are a growing trend, smaller, targeted
simulations haven’t been forgotten. The
Office of Naval Research, for example, is
looking to develop simulations to help
Marines with combat decision-making
at the small-unit level—an area the
military has largely overlooked in its
decision-making research.
The Army’s Maneuver Center of Ex-
cellence also is focusing on mobile apps,
as are others in DOD. CACI used its
Unity 3D Game Engine to create scenar-
io-based training apps that allow soldier
to conduct training on smartphones,
Flanagan said. “Converting complete
courses, from Airborne Jumpmaster to
Abrams Tank maintenance, is changing
how soldiers learn,” he said. So far, there
have been over 10,000 downloads of 25
mobile apps for individual training and
military skill courses from Fort Ben-
ning’s Warrior University online.” n
18 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 | DefenseSystems.com
Army soldiers at Fort Hood prepare
to take part in the live portion of an
LVC-IA exercise.
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